Bristol-based proptech company, MyNestBox, was founded back in 2020. Dr Henry Crosby PhD (CEO) and Adam Rogers (CTO) set up the business through funding from a small group of business angels and was awarded an Innovate UK grant to support product development.
Following this, MyNestBox recently launched its newest software, MNB Assess – a data-led app which outputs personally branded site constraint reports in less than 10 minutes. The team is now 5 people strong, and today we have Henry answering our 10 questions:
1 – In your own words – what do you do?
MyNestBox is on a mission to enable more people to own good quality homes and we are doing this by using data science to make property assessment instant.
MyNestBox just released our first B2B software product, MNB Assess, which provides new build developers with the tools to be able to assess the constraints and deal breakers on a potential site in 10 minutes or less (24x faster). The software outputs professional, personally branded reports for our users.
With some more time on our side, we will be working with surveyors and conveyancers to speed up the home buying process 10 fold and reduce the number of sales that fall through at the last minute.
2 – What’s the most exciting thing about what you’re doing?
We are technologists first. This means that our number one priority is to engineer, manipulate and process detailed data quickly and accurately. Our online site reporting tool, MNB Assess is 24x faster than allowing our users to do the same thing manually.
The reason for this is partly because we have an (semi-)automated ingestion pipeline that ensures that we always have up to date data, partly because we are able to put all of the different sources and one place, and mainly because we have a “Nest” table which pre-processes and compresses geospatial data for the purpose of “quick selection”.
This means that our data lake can tell a user the state of an address in seconds (i.e., is the property in a greenbelt, or on top of an underground utility asset etc).
3 – What are you most proud of so far?
Our nationwide topographical surveying tool!
It is a map which uses lidar imagery provided by Airbus and the Environment Agency to create a detailed and accurate “levels” map. The map shows the height of the ground above sea level in 5 meter intervals. Each point is measured to the closest millimetre. The data contains billions of points, and can be hard to plot at a national level, which has previously been the barrier to having this technology available in the market.
The map will be used by property professionals to estimate the excavation costs of development.
4 – What have you found most difficult about being a startup?
As a first-time founder, I have not always been able to anticipate what the next challenge will be, when it will come and how much time we might need to spend on it.
5 – What would you do differently if you started now?
For a long time, we focussed on product development and vision, then one day I read “Traction: How Any Startup Can Achieve Explosive Customer Growth” by Gabriel Weinberg, where he recommends that 50% of your time should be focused on “traction”. We have now more than made up for missed time in this area, but with hindsight, I would have undertaken “traction activities” sooner.
6 – Where do you think you’ll be in 12 months?
We will have exceeded £1.5million in revenue, 250 customers on subscription and 5000+ reports downloaded.
7 – What tools/people/services/organisations from the cluster have helped you most?
Briony Phillips and Shona Wright have both been incredible help in spreading the word of MyNestBox to founders, customers and investors in the area – thank you!
8 – What’s the best thing about the Bristol & Bath tech cluster?
It is a space to start conversations, celebrate other startups and it is proof that Bristol and the South West have exceptional founders and support networks, and most importantly it gives validation to our value as a community and location – despite not being in the London, Oxford, Cambridge triangle that so many people believe you need to be in, particularly to be well-funded.
9 – Who will you be nominating for a SPARKie next year?
Huboo. Martin and the team are absolutely exceptional with huge ambitions, a fantastic vision, great funding and admirable growth.
10 – Where can we find out more about you?
Visit our website https://www.mynestbox.co.uk or follow me on LinkedIn
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